How to Reduce Anxiety Naturally: A Practical Self-Help Guide

If you are looking for practical help to reduce anxiety you are in the right place. This guide is not about explaining what anxiety is, this guide is full of practical techniques that you can start using today. Techniques to slow your breathing, relax your body, calm your mind and reduce your baseline anxiety level.

Some of these techniques can help in a matter of minutes whereas others are powerful but take longer to become effective. To get the best results try several techniques and make them part of your daily routine.

Anxiety affects people in different ways. You might experience constant worrying, physical tension, overthinking and panic attacks. These practical techniques are designed to help you calm your mind and body and help you feel less anxious and more in control.

Start Here: Calm Anxiety Right Now

If you are feeling very anxious and want to calm down as quickly as possible try rinsing your hands in cold water if possible. This helps to focus your mind on something other than the anxiety. Part of the problem with anxiety is that you start to feel anxious about feeling anxious, so breaking the anxiety cycle is the way to stop it.

Distraction techniques will help too, such as thinking about the taste of a certain food, thinking of a happy memory or playing a song you like. You can also try gentle slow breathing. Start with a few full deep breaths and then slow it down to long slow breaths. Try focusing your mind on the feeling of the breath at your nostrils, as you inhale and exhale. Make sure you exhale fully, as when you are anxious it is a common subconscious habit to hold your breath a little without reaslizing.

If you’ve got anxiety right now and you are looking for instant help, take a small breath in and breathe out with a sigh, as you do so, let your shoulders drop and relax. Now try the following:

• Slow your breathing.
• Make you out breath slightly longer than your inhalation.
• Look around you and describe 5 things you can see.
• Let any thoughts pass, don’t engage.
• Let the anxiety just be, don’t try to fight it.
• Listen to a cheerful song.
• Rinse your hands under cold water.
• Remind yourself that this will pass.

Don’t Get Involved with the thoughts

One of the keys to overcoming anxiety is to not get caught up in the feelings and thoughts that come with it. This means distraction is important as a means of disengaging with the anxious feelings. Remember, the anxious feeling will pass and you will be okay.

You Don’t Need To Fight Your Thoughts

Everyone has anxious thoughts from time to time, but why do some people dismiss those thoughts easily, and other people get caught up in them? The strange thing about anxious thoughts is that if you focus your attention on them they seem to grow and become more powerful and frightening the more attention you give them. Anxious thoughts also create physical symptoms when you let them develop and escalate. So the answer to taking control of anxious thoughts is to not focus on them but let them pass.

Stop Feeding Anxious Thoughts

When you have an anxious thought and give it your attention it is as though you are feeding it and giving it energy and power. It then becomes stronger and feels uncomfortable and therefore more difficult to stop. Not getting involved with the anxious thought in the first place, is the way to free yourself from anxiety.

Anxious Thoughts & Physical Feelings

Some people may think when reading this, “but my anxious feelings come out of nowhere”. This approach still stands though, because the physical feelings of anxiety and anxious thoughts work together. This is how it becomes a problem – you get an anxious thought and it develops into physical feelings that frighten you. The physical feelings can happen first and then the anxious thoughts follow – it is all part of the same process. Learning to ignore the thoughts and the feelings is the way out. Imagine yourself ignoring the anxious thoughts and feelings – that’s the exit sign right there – that’s the way out and the door is open.

Let it Pass

When you experience anxious thoughts or feelings, (and you will because it is a normal human experience), don’t argue with them, don’t engage with the thoughts and don’t analyze the physical sensations. Notice it, accept it is there and let it pass. At first you may feel that you are faking it and you still feel affected by the anxiety, but very quickly you will notice changes and improvements. Keep doing it. Treat these anxious thoughts and feelings like they are meaningless and irrelevant because unless you are in a real dangerous situation, those thoughts and feelings are irrelevant and they are meaningless.

Imagine yourself ignoring the anxious thoughts and feelings – that’s the exit sign right there – that’s the way out and the door is open.

Daily Anxiety Recovery Plan

Making small positive changes in your habits and routines can have a powerful cumulative effect on your anxiety levels, helping you relax, let go of thoughts and feel much calmer. Gradually with practice, your stress and anxiety levels will become naturally lower and you will feel more resilient and confident in day to day life.

A daily routine that includes balance, organization and self care can help you recover from anxiety partly though integrating practices that can ease anxiety, and partly though structure, habit and helping you feel more in control in general. Here is an example routine that may be helpful, you can remove or add activities that make it work for you:

Morning:

Wake up naturally if possible rather than rushing into the day, but if you do need to set an alarm, find a pleasant sounding one.

Stretch, drink a glass of water, open the curtains, opens the window or go outside if possible to catch some natural daylight.

Don’t rush to check your phone, take some deep breaths and be in the moment right here, right now.

Depending on your schedule, you could do some exercise now

Take a shower, get dressed and ready for the day

Take a few minutes to think of three things you are grateful for, and practice gratitude.

Daytime Activities:

Close your eyes and think about what you need to do today, identify essential tasks.

Complete the most important tasks first each day

Do something to improve your space such as tidying up, cleaning or organizing.

Go for a walk ideally in nature if you can

Try practicing mindfulness – be in the moment of now, not thinking about the past or future.

Keep busy to focus your attention – This can help keep your mind off anxiety

Avoid or reduce caffeine

Take regular breaks and note any tension in your shoulders, jaw etc and relax

Eat healthy nutritious food

Drink plenty of water

Evening:

Prepare anything you need to do for the next day, plan your outfit, plan for tomorrow if needed.

Relax, perhaps try listening to a guided meditation or hypnosis

Try journalling – write down any thoughts or worries.

For 2 hours before you go to bed try to engage in relaxing activities only and ideally non-screen activities.

Go to bed and sleep well.

Aim to do some of these things each day, selecting things that you feel work for you. For example some people find quiet helps them feel calmer whereas other people may find loud music actually helps more by distracting them, experiment and find what works best for you.

Simple Lifestyle Changes That Make a Big Difference

• Clear outstanding tasks, don’t let jobs mount up as this may add to anxiety.
• Make your bed and bedroom as comfortable as possible to help you sleep better.
• Avoid reading or watching the news if possible.
• Avoid people who make you feel worse, if you can do so.
• Make your space as tidy and organized as you can as this can help reduce anxiety.

7 Daily Habits to Reduce Anxiety Long-Term

There are changes you can make to your habits and thoughts that will help you lower your baseline anxiety level and become a calmer person. Hypnosis or meditation can also help you learn about and implement ways of stopping anxiety controlling your life. Understanding why you are anxious and when it started to become a problem may be useful to understanding what changes you should be making.

For example, sometimes it can be the case that a period of extreme stress results in a sense of lasting anxiety that you cannot seem to shake off. It might be that you have always had a tendency to feel anxious. What is important is that you can change. Anxiety self help, using meditation or hypnosis along with self care can help you break the anxiety cycle.  Long term results will be gained by taking a thorough approach to overcoming your anxiety, so read on for the full 7 steps:

1. Meditation & hypnosis
2. Sleep
3. Physical relaxation
4. Positive thinking
5. Exercise
6. Taking positive action or keeping busy
7. Avoid or reduce caffeine

1. Meditation and Hypnosis

Regular use of meditation or hypnosis audios can really help reduce and control anxiety. The reason for this is that you need to gain control of your thoughts and quieten your mind. Hypnosis calms and quietens the mind so effectively that you will with practice, find yourself observing thoughts without getting involved with them, this is a helpful thing to achieve. Another thing you need to do to help alleviate your anxiety is to physically relax because no doubt your anxiety will have caused tensions and possibly aches and tense muscles in your body.

Try this today: Listen to a 15 to 20 minute guided meditation or hypnosis session. If your mind wanders, that’s okay, it takes practice and the benefits tend to accumulate with regular use. We have a selection of meditations and hypnosis downloads for anxiety, go to the anxiety Hub to see the full list of articles and audios.

2. Sleep

Anxiety can make you more tired than you might be otherwise as you are using excess energy. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Lack of sleep makes anxiety worse. Good sleep will help you manage your anxiety effectively. Creating a consistent bedtime routine and limiting screen time can help improve your sleep quality.

If you are having trouble getting to sleep or waking in the night you can make some changes to your sleeping space to help improve this such as ensuring the room where you sleep is extra comfortable, tidy, and a pleasant place to be. Making sure your bed and pillows are comfortable, Clear away any clutter and get some blackout curtains if light is an issue.

You could also have a little notebook and pen by the bed and if you find yourself worrying or thinking – I must remember this or that,  you can make a quick note of it. This can help you go back to sleep. It can make quite a difference. If there are noises that keep you awake try earplugs, there are some lovely soft foam ones you can get which are very comfortable as well as effective at blocking out noise. Finally, don’t forget to have some wind down time before you go to bed.

Try this Tonight – Take an extra 5 minutes to tidy your bed, or room and make it nicer. These small details can create a relaxing vibe that gradually have a positive effect on your stress and anxiety and makes it easier to relax. Better sleep often reduces anxiety, and reduced anxiety tends to result in better quality sleep.

3. Relaxation

Take time for relaxation. Have a bubble bath, get a massage, read a good book. Self care is essential when dealing with anxiety. Make some positive changes now, plan some treats, however small, just to take the time to look after you. This is not time wasted – you need this to recover and to stop anxiety. Anxiety can also lead to muscle tension which in turn can cause pain. Try our chronic pain relief relaxing hypnosis audio to help with this.

4. Positive Thinking

You may be in the habit of allowing negative thoughts and expectations to flow through your mind. This is often a habit in people with chronic anxiety. You may also find that you ruminate, especially at night. To overcome these negative habits, try conscious positive thinking. All you need to do is think up some simple statements and repeat them to yourself. For example: “I am calm and in control” or “Everything is okay”. After a while you could up the positivity even more, and get more ambitious with your expectations. It is amazing how simple self talk (which we are all doing a lot of the time) can affect your mood.

When you practice positive thinking remember that the aim is not to pretend everything in your life is perfect,. You are aiming to train your mind to look for the positive more, to notice possibilities and opportunities and become more open to positive thinking. This is important because if you have been suffering with anxiety it can make to more inclined to expect negative outcomes and thinking that way can become a habit. A new positive habit of positive thinking can help you feel happier and more optimistic.

5. Exercise

Exercise reduces your stress and anxiety. Take some exercise and you may be amazed at how this positively impacts your anxiety, You can think positive affirmations while exercising. It boosts your confidence too, and this will help lift your self-belief that you can beat this. If you are not used to exercise start with walking or gentle stretches.

Exercise doesn’t need to be just another chore on your list, it can become enjoyable and it can boost your confidence too. Getting a regular habit going is far more important that how hard you push yourself, so try to make it enjoyable for you. Why not try:

• Walking
• Gardening
• Rowing
• Cycling
• Dancing
• Swimming

6. Take Positive Action or Just Keep Busy

Another method of helping to ease your anxiety is to keep your mind occupied. Be busy and be calm. Keeping your mind is focused and thinking or concentrating can help you to basically forget your anxiety. You can focus and be active, productive and busy so that there is no spare capacity to entertain anxious thoughts – you are just too busy! It helps to plan in advance some activities you can do if you find yourself unexpectedly anxious. So if you are looking at how to stop anxiety, these actions can help break the habit of anxious thinking.

7. Caffeine

An often overlooked factor is caffeine. It can increase your heart rate, make you feel restless and make anxiety feel worse. especially if you are sensitive to it.

If cutting back on caffeine feels difficult, a hypnosis session designed to reduce caffeine dependence or stop caffeine addiction naturally can help to reset the habit without willpower struggles.

Progress is More Important than Perfection

After reading this guide you may feel there is much work to be done to overcome your anxiety, but remember it is a gradual process and many of the activities and ideas in this article have a cumulative effect. You don’t have to do everything, just choose things that resonate with you, stick with them and make them part of your daily routine. Lasting positive change is something that builds, and small improvements make it happen.

Panic Attacks

Panic attacks often go hand in hand with anxiety, especially if the anxiety becomes routine. If you have had a panic attack you will know they are quite frightening at first, but the key to beating panic attacks is to learn with practice, to rise above that feeling of fear. Learning to not react with fear takes a lot of the energy out of a panic attack. To find out more on how to cope with and stop a panic attack or try our Stop panic attacks hypnosis.

Continue Your Anxiety Recovery

Stress and anxiety often go hand in hand. Explore my Anxiety Hypnosis Downloads & Guided Meditations for additional hypnosis recordings, guided meditations and practical self-help resources covering stress, panic attacks, worry, sleep and much more. Or read our most comprehensive article on How to Overcome Anxiety.

If your main challenge is:

Anxiety & Fear – Try our Overcome Fear & Anxiety Hypnosis

Panic Attacks – Read our How to Stop a Panic Attack article

Burnout – Read the How to Recover from Burnout article

Difficulty Relaxing – Try our Stress Reduction & Relaxation Hypnosis

Worrying – Read our Stop Worrying Article

Understanding Anxiety – Read our comprehensive article on How to Overcome Anxiety

Find All Resources on Anxiety

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FAQ

Find Out More

If you would like to understand more about hypnosis you may find these helpful:

• What is hypnosis
• How does hypnosis work
• What does hypnosis feel like
• Is hypnosis safe
• Can anyone be hypnotized

For more answers, if you still have questions, you can visit the hypnosis FAQ page.

Helpful Hypnosis Audios for Anxiety

Here are some hypnosis downloads that can help you reduce anxiety and feel calmer:

• Anxiety Store Category
• Keep Calm & Carry on
• Mindfulness for stress & Anxiety
• Stop Anxiety
• Overcome Fear & Anxiety
• OM meditation
• Manifesting Calm & Peace
• Stop Panic Attacks
• Achieve Mindfulness

Please note: if you are experiencing anxiety self help may not be enough if it is severe, so please see your doctor if you are feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts. If you need help go to the Mind website